Jaipur, October 10: The Bharatiya Janata Party's Usha Punia, a former minister in the Rajasthan government, on Wednesday, quit the party ahead of Assembly elections later this year. Punia was the Tourism Minister in the state government from 2003 to 2008, under the Chief Ministership of present incumbent Vasundhara Raje.

In a letter to state BJP President Madanlal Saini, she said that the party office had been reduced to a "meet and greet" venue while the entire show was run from the Chief Minister's Office. Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2018 Full Schedule And Dates: Single-Phase Voting on December 7, Results on December 11.

"Even Jat leaders are being ignored," said Punia, who belongs to the Jat community.

"The Jat community is feeling left out and hence it is difficult to continue as a member of this party," she said in the letter.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 10, 2018 07:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).